Membership Services
AOPA Legal Services Plan not just for violations
You may have never seriously considered joining AOPA’s Legal Services Plan. After all, you’re a careful, precise pilot, and the possibility of your violating FARs may be slim in your mind. Then, too, you are confident about how you would handle a ramp check or other FAA inquiry. That may all be true, but there are other reasons, beyond planning ahead for the day you find yourself “in trouble,” that makes signing up for AOPA’s Legal Services Plan make sense.
If you’re in the market to buy an airplane, AOPA’s Legal Services Plan can be invaluable. You may already have a lawyer to guide you through the purchase process, but that lawyer may not be familiar with aircraft transactions and might leave you exposed to unwanted surprises when you buy. The stakes are high when buying an aircraft – make sure you have the best counsel you can find.
The almost 700 panel attorneys who participate in AOPA’s Legal Services Plan know where the minefields are in the aircraft purchase process and the Plan will provide you with up to one hour with a panel attorney (two hours for Legal Services Plan PLUS) to help you avoid them. What’s more, if you choose to work with your current lawyer, you may be surprised to know that under certain conditions the AOPA Legal Services Plan will reimburse for up to one hour (two hours for Legal Services Plan PLUS) for your own lawyer.
Leasing an aircraft hangar from an airport operator. Putting your airplane on leaseback to a flight school. Advice about IRS challenges to aircraft operating expense deductions on your federal income taxes. Leasing an aircraft from your local FBO. These are all situations where having qualified advisors on your side, watching your best interests, avoiding problems for you, is invaluable. AOPA’s Legal Services Plan is so much more than just legal representation and advice if you violate an FAR.
Take a moment to enroll online in the AOPA Legal Services Plan, or call 800/USA-AOPA (800/872-2672).
Read about the actual experiences with AOPA’s Legal Services Plan of other pilots and aircraft owners just like you.
[SEE THE PLAN DESCRIPTION FOR COMPLETE COVERAGES, LIMITS AND EXCLUSIONS.]
September 29, 2011
